Roof brick



C. GUEST ROOF BRICK April 21, 1925.

FildFeb. 18, 1922 lllllllll IIIIIIIII Inventor aha/r288 Guest A ttom e s Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

CHARLES GUEST, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

ROOF BRICK.

Application filed February 18, 1922. Serial No. 537,460.

To all whom z'tma concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES Gnns'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roof Bricks, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved brick or block which is especially designed for use in constructing the arches or roofs of furnaces or fire boxes, and among the objects of the invention is to provide a brick of this character which embodies novel features of construction whereby the brick of adjacent rows are securely interlocked with each other, thereby insuring that all of the bricks will be supported inproper position and prevented from settling or falling out of place, as well as facilitating the initial construction of the arch or roof with the bricks. T

As is well known the refractorybricks from which the arches of open hearth furnaces and the like are constructed are sub jected to an intense heat which slowly burns and disintegrates the arch until portions thereoffinally drop out of position and it becomes necessary to repair the arch. This is done without putting out the fire and owing to the adverse conditions under which the work must be done it is always a difiicult and dangerous job. The ordinary practice is to hold a form under the damaged portion of the arch or roof for initially supporting the wedge-shaped bricks which are used in making the repair until all of the bricks have been properly placed and the inclined faces thereof mutually engage each I other and the edges of the opening for suport. The form is frequently secured to a ong wooden beam which extends through the furnace and is manually supported at the ends thereof, and at times the beam burns throu h before the repair work has been finished; with the result that the form and perhaps many of the bricks are dropped into the furnace. a

An object ofthe present invention has accordingly been to provide a roof brick which can be usedto great advantage in making repairs, since the bricks mutually support each other and an opening in the .arch or roof of a furnace can be readily repaired without the use of a form and without danger of the bricks dropping into the furnace.

:With the above andother objects in View the invention consists in certain combinations and arrangements of. the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claim. I

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through the top of a furnace which is provided with an arch constructed with roof brick which embody the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view through a portion of a furnace arch, showing an opening therein as repaired with the improved roof brick.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of igure 2. p I

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation of one of the roof brick.

Figure 6 is an edge view of the roof brick. Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated l on all of the views of the drawing by like reference characters.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings,' th

numerals 1 designate the side walls of a furnace and 2 the usual skew blocks which are mounted upon the side walls and provide end supports for the arched roof A. The rbof is subjected to an intense heat when the furnace is in operation and is necessarily formed of highly refractory material suc 1 as fire brick or brick formed from fire clay. The arch A is built with individual brick 3 which have a eculiar construction, being illustrated in etail by Figures 5 and 6. These individual brick "3 have an elongated formation and preferably have slightly ta pered sides 3 so that they can be assembled I 'in the form of an arch without the necessity of using a key brick, and will mutually support each other in the well known manner, the end. bricks of the arch engaging the skew blocks 2.

The upper end of each of the bricks is provided upon one of the edges thereof with anover-hanging projection 4, and upon the opposite edge thereof with a correspondingly shaped recess 5. The recess has an inwardly inclined or under-cut shoulder 5 at the base thereof, while the projection is provided at its lower end with a correspondingly shaped inclined lip or hook portion 4". In assembling the brick in the different transverse rows'extending across the roof or arch, with the inclined faces thereof in a mutual engagement with each other, the projections 4 of the brick of each row fit within the recesses 5 of the brick of an adjacent row and the inclined lips or hook portions 4 interlock with the under-cut shoulders 5" so that the two rows of brick are locked together. When initially building the roof or arch, the projections 4 of the first row of brick may be caused to engage the adjacent end wall of the furnace,- and in placing the successive transverse rows of the brick in position the projections 4 of the brick will engage the recesses 5of the brick in the preceding row which has just been completed, thereby holding the individual brick of each row in position until all of the brick of the row have been placed in position and form a complete section of the arch. The transverse rows of brick can thus beplaced successively in position without difiiculty and without the use of aform for centering and supporting the brick of each row until the row has been completed. The under-cut shoulder 5 also cooperates with the inclined lip 4 to draw the bricks into position and prevent the bricks from being accidentally displaced laterally and dropped into the furnace.

These pec-uliarlyshaped bricks also have many advantages for use in repairing furnace arches or roofs.

and which has had an opening therein repaired with theimproved brick. Inmaking this repair the. edges of the opening which had been formed in the roof were first cut away to a regular form and the first row of the brick placed in position along one of the sides of the opening with the projections 4 of the brick extending over the edge of the opening and on aging the top of the roof to support the bric in position. The brick of the succeeding rows are dropped in position from the top of the furnace and are supported by the engagement of the projections 4; thereof with the recesses 5 of the brick in the preceding row. The brick are thus supported as they are dropped into position from the top of the furnace and there is no need to provide a form or support under the opening for holding the In Figure 2 of the drawings the reference character B desigthe shoulders 5" and the hooked or, inclined i lips 4 of the projections 4 interlock with each other to prevent lateral displacement of the bricks as they are placed in position and tend to draw the freshly placed bricks toward the bricks of the completed row. Vith bricks constructed in this manner an opening in the arch or roof of a furnace can be repaired with greater ease and much more quickly than is possible with the ordinary brick used for this purpose, and the danger or hazard instant to making re pairs with the new form of brick is very much less than that which was previously a necessary incident to a. job of this kind. The new form of brick is well adapted either for the initial construction of furnace arches or roofs, or for making repairs in old arches or roofs, and the interlocking connection between the bricks is not only advantageous in supporting the bricks when they are ini tially placed in position, but also holds all of the bricks of the finished roof in a ,close engagement with each other so that a substantial arch is obtained and there is no danger of individual bricks settling or working themselves down into the furnace independently of the other bricks.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

A roof brick for furnaces and the like, having a body portion which is adapted to be substantially vertically disposed in a roof, the upper end of the body portion having one edge thereof notched and being provided upon the opposite side thereof with a correspondingly shaped lateral projection, the side portions of the brick below the shoulder and projection being flat so that a brick can be dropped in position from the top of the roof and the projection thereof caused to engage the notch of a previously placed brick, the notch having an undercut shoulder at the bottom thereof and the projection having a hook at the bottom thereof, and the hooked portion of the projection having an inclined face which cooperates with the undercut shoulder of the notch to draw the freshly placed brick toward the previously placed brick.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

I CHARLES GUEST. 

